Posted on 06/03/2003 5:44:34 AM PDT by SJackson
June 2, 2003 Contact: (212) 481-1500 Attn: NEWS EDITOR
ZOA TO ASHCROFT: INDICT & EXTRADITE ARAB KILLER OF U.S. CITIZEN WHOM SHARON IS RELEASING
NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is urging U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to indict and extradite a Palestinian Arab murderer of an American, who is being released by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "gesture" to the Palestinian Arabs.
The terrorist scheduled for release is Ahmad El-Sukar, who is presently serving a sentence of life imprisonment for a bombing in downtown Jerusalem's Zion Square on July 4, 1975, murdering 14 passersby. One of those murdered was U.S. citizen Rivka Ben-Yitzhak, age 35. Among the wounded were three Americans--U.S. tourist Mark Katz and "two American young women tourists" whose names were not released. (New York Times, July 5, 1975)
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein, chairman of the board Dr. Alan Mazurek, and chairman of the National Executive Committee Dr. Michael Goldblatt have sent a telegram to Attorney General Ashcroft urging: "We deplore the Sharon government's reported decision to order the release of a killer of Americans, and we urge you to intervene to ensure that El-Sukar receives the appropriate punishment for his crimes. The United States should indict El-Sukar for the murder of U.S. citizen Rivka Ben-Yitzhak, and request that El-Sukar be extradited from Israel to the U.S. in accordance with the terms of the U.S.-Israel extradition treaty. If the Sharon government is not prepared to mete out justice to this murderer of Israelis and Americans, El-Sukar, then the U.S. government must do so."
The ZOA is also urging the Attorney General to:
* Place Ahmad El-Sukar on the "terrorist watch" list so that he is not allowed to enter the United States (except to stand trial).
* Assist the family of Rivka Ben-Yitzhak, and relatives of the Americans wounded in the bombing, in filing suit against El-Sukar for violating their civil rights.
* Demand that the Palestinian Authority pledge, in writing, to refrain from providing any financial assistance to El-Sukar or his family (the PA's standard policy has been to provide salaries to released terrorists).
* Demand that the PA provide a verifiable account of how much money it has provided to El-Sukar or his family since his imprisonment, and deduct that amount from the next installment of the Bush administration's annual $150-million grant to the Palestinian Arabs.
* Post warnings in the vicinity of El-Sukar's next place of residence, alerting U.S. citizens who live in the area that a killer is about to become their neighbor--similar to warnings that are posted in American neighborhoods when convicted child molesters move into the area.
* Instruct the CIA Station Chief in Israel to monitor El-Sukar's travels and inform the Ben-Yitzhaks and the other victims' families of his whereabouts at all times.
* * *
More than 100 American citizens have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists since the 1960s, 39 of them since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. Twenty-seven of those 39 were killed since the Palestinian Authority launched the current wave of violence in September 2000.
In response to the ongoing murders of American citizens by Palestinian Arab terrorists, the ZOA is strongly supporting the Koby Mandell Act, which was recently introduced in Congress. The Koby Mandell Act would create a special office within the Justice Department which would: gather evidence against Palestinian Arab killers of Americans; arrange to bring the terrorists to the U.S. for trial; initiate negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for financial compensation for victims' families; and maintain a liaison with the families to update them on efforts to capture the killers.
The Koby Mandell Act has been publicly endorsed by AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The legislation has broad bipartisan support in Congress. In the Senate, it currently has 12 sponsors, led by Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). In the House of Representatives, it currently has 41 sponsors, led by Representatives Rob Andrews (D-NJ) and Jim Saxton (R-NJ). (For a complete list of the sponsors, call the ZOA at 212-481-1500.)
The ZOA recently published a powerful new booklet, The Forgotten Victims: American Citizens Murdered by Palestinian Arab Terrorists. It includes biographical entries on Americans murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists and a "Killers at Large" section revealing the names --and, in some cases, the photos-- of Palestinian Arab killers of Americans who are being sheltered by the PA. For a free copy of The Forgotten Victims, please call the ZOA at 212-481-1500.
* * *
The Zionist Organization of America, www.zoa.org ,founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.
War criminal according to whom?
Bad things happen to occupying powers.
We were an "occupying power" in Germany, Japan and now Iraq. Your point?
If Israel is an occupying power, please tell me whose land does it belong to then that it is occupying?
Ha,ha, that's a good one.
I know or care little about the ISM but I don't give a rat's rectum about how Israel characterizes anything. ANYTHING, got it?
The girl was a kid, however misguided, who was coldly run over by a bulldozer, according to all the news accounts I read.
Gee, I don't know. Ask Sharon--he's the one who said it.
That's a lie. You quote Sharon in post #16. according to all the news accounts I read
Selective reading. Search FR for those articles. The "witnesses" backed away from their account that she got run over (and then, allegedly. the driver went in reverse the second time). In fact, you'll find pictures of her after the incident - it's clear that she did not get run over.
Really? What about:
I don't give a rat's rectum about how Israel characterizes anything. ANYTHING, got it?
By the way. Sharon's PR issues a correction to that.
War criminal according to the Israeli Supreme Court.
My point was that bad things happen to occupying powers. Isn't that what I wrote?
Despite the disclaimer, I suspect you know that statement isn't true. Sheinbeins murderer wasn't extradited because he would have faced the death penalty in the US. Dozens of countries from Europe to South/Central America to our neighbor to the south have the same policy. He was tried in Israel, where he got a much lighter sentence than he would have in the US. Israeli Nationals at the time of the commission of the crime (not Jews) aren't extradited, also a policy followed by dozens of countries.
Actually I think the most legitimate indictment in this context would be against Yasser Arafat, who ordered the murder of two American diplomats in the 1970s.
You got me on that one. I also seemed to care about how the Israeli Supreme Court characterized Sharon. So I will amend my statement: I don't give a rat's rectum about how Israel characterizes almost anything.
Your ignorance, or is it bigotry, is breathtaking. You spew nonsense right and left.
Dual citizenship wasn't legislated, it grew out of the judicial branch, most recently from Supreme Court decisions in the 1950s. It's applicable to dozens of nations (I believe around 50) and it's nature is determined by the laws of the other nation, not the US. For example, if Cuba decides Cuban immigrants to the US or their descendents hold dual citizenship tomorrow, they're US citizens. Until then, they're US citizens in the US, Cuban citizens in Cuba.
Sorry, that's not true. In fact, in 1985, he succesfully sued Time magazine (in a US court) for an article that alleged what you are alleging. Keep posting. You are really showing your ignorance now.
That's fine. Will you link? Or will you run away with your tail between your legs?
I'll do better. Follow these instructions:
1. Go to Google
2. Type in "Sharon as war criminal"
3. Press Enter
Take your pick of any of the links on the ten pages of links displayed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.